


Stake Out

by Lonewritersclub



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Ace Chemicals, Batman is so cool, Best buds in justice, GCPD, Good old fashion cops, Gotham City Police Department, Jimmy and Harv, Joker is born, stake out, the red hood gang
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-21
Updated: 2020-05-21
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24303424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lonewritersclub/pseuds/Lonewritersclub
Summary: It's a plain old day that Jim and Harvey were on a stake out for Pig when they first met Joker and Batman. The first one drenched in acid, the latter one in bulletproof armour.All Harvey wanted was to eat some donuts.
Relationships: Batman/Joker, Harvey Bullock & Jim Gordon, Joker (DCU)/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 12
Kudos: 33





	Stake Out

**Stake Out**

In Gotham, when walking down a street, you either want to keep your head high or all the way down. It depends on the situation, location and your status of course but the rule of the thumb goes as such: if you're crazy, you keep your gaze on the pavement. If you're crazy but incredibly wealthy, or if you've just got nothing to lose, you can keep your eyes on the clouds.

If you're neither and somehow find your sanity to still be intact, guess again. We're all crazy here. It's Gotham after all.

You'd better keep your head down. 

Jim glances at the road behind him from the side-mirror of his parked car and frowns. There's a boy running after his basketball into the half-busy road and Jim honks his horn to get him to pay some attention to his whereabouts. 

Bullock gets shaken the loud noise and looks over to Jim with a pointed gaze. He spilled some of his coffee onto his lousy beige trousers and on the brown paperbag containing his sugar glazed donuts. 

"Sorry", Jim mutters out half-heartedly and turns his gaze back to the road behind. The boy has left.

They proceed with their stake out. 

“It’s nearly nine am. I reckon by now he’s already had the time to cut up some more deformed pigs faces for his next victims to wear”, Bullock says staring at the red brick house they are keeping an eye out for.

“You think there’s a backdoor?” Jim asks already frowning. If it’s so, then they’ve wasted a whole night on waiting for a man who already got out.

“No. These buildings are too closely built together for that. What I’m saying is he never was home. He knew we would be here.”

“Someone rat us out”, Jim states and grips the steering wheel harder. Just as he’s driving out of his parallel parking spot, someone suddenly runs in front of the car, hands bumping into the black hood as they speed away from the street looking absolutely terrified. They disappear into one of the houses on the street with a loud bang of a shutting door.

Bullock and Jim immediately get on high alert, observing around themselves in the car but they see nothing out of the usual for a few more seconds. Then a man with a silver handgun runs into the street out of a dark alleyway. He has a painted white face and striking green hair. He has a spindly form which has somehow an amplified effect in his head-to-toe purple suit as he sways from side to side as if he were slightly drunk.

“What the hell is that?” Bullock groans out yet all the while taking out his gun from its holster. Jim exits the vehicle cautiously but ready to tackle the criminal down.

“GCPD! Drop the gun!” Jim orders in a rough booming voice and places his finger close to the trigger as he points his gun at its target’s back. The clown looking man turns around in a stumbling sort of way yet it manages to almost look graceful due to the lenient movements.

Jim can’t make out the man’s face from underneath the pale makeup, the dark eyeshadows and the wide red grin but Jim gets the feeling like it’s not that important anyway. This man is most likely very new in town.

“Oh hi there!” the man greets Jim in a half melodious half hoarse tone. He drops his gun without another worry and then waves his free hand at him gleefully.

Despite his obvious folly, he has his chin proudly pointed upwards with a smile on his face. He doesn’t look rich though which concludes that he’s a man with nothing left to lose. Jim proceeds to close in on him with careful judgment. This clown isn’t a happy one. He’s a dangerously unpredictable joker. One that might shoot you or himself in an instant. Except, thankfully, it doesn’t look like he’s got another gun on him. There has to be some another weapon then. He couldn’t act that casually otherwise.

Bullock is making his way towards him from another angle, gun pointed at the man, too.

“Kick the gun over to us”, he shouts out and surprisingly yet again the man obeys. He swings his leg out and kicks the gun over to Bullock as if in a flamboyant field goal. Bullock grabs the piece a bit hesitantly but tucks it into his pocket for safe-keeping either way.

This is strange.

“On your knees now. Hands above your head”, Jim tells him, this time not needing to yell as they are so close to him already. They are close enough that Jim can see blood splatters marking the man’s white complexion. His green locks are somewhat hiding the worst of it though.

“Oh that I can’t do, I’m afraid. It’d ruin my brand new suit”, the man replies with an off-beat giggle and pointedly taps his patent leather shoe at the dirty asphalt. Bullock cocks his gun at him.

“Do it.”

The clown pouts his lips at him dramatically but with Bullock’s stern face staring back at him, he eventually does as he’s told accompanied by a disappointed roll of his eyes. Jim circles to the man’s back again to cuff him while Bullock keeps guard at the front.

The man absolutely stinks of harsh toxic chemicals. As Jim grabs onto the gloved hands to place them behind his back in cuffs, he has tears forming in his eyes from the acidic stench. Coughing and squinting his eyes, Jim backs away from the man as soon as he has him in handcuffs. Whatever in the world this man has been doing, it can’t have been anything good. Jim wonders how he’s even standing right now

“Harv, get him to the car”, Jim says needing to take a break from the disgusting odour. “You’re going to the precinct.”

Bullock grabs the man from his arms cuffed at his back with a strong hold but keeps his distance to him with a wrinkly nose. He makes him stand back up and starts escorting him to their car. Jim opens the door to the passenger seats at the back for him.

Jim hates to think of the smell the man is going to contaminate their car with which they are going to have to endure for the rest of their stake-outs as that stench will surely not wear off any time soon.

The man looks to be rather at ease despite the obvious fact that he’ll certainly end up in jail. It makes Jim uncomfortable. Then again, the man might just be crazy and that’s it. Arkham might even have a bed ready for him with his name already on it.

Suddenly, just as Harvey’s about to usher the clown inside their vehicle, something dark sweeps down in front of them. Jim reacts by quickly pulling out his gun, Harvey soon following his suit while keeping his other hand on the man.

The dark blur of movement then stands up tall, beginning to somehow tower the three of them despite being about the same height as Harvey. It’s a man, evidently, however the look of him goes beyond that description.

Dressed in what can only be assessed as heavy-duty armour and an ink black cape with daunting mask to match, the man makes an intimidating and frightening sight in all of his mass and threatening get-up. The white lenses of the mask covering half of his face glow intently at Jim as Jim points his gun at his pointy armoured head with a calculating grip.

“Stand back!” Jim manages to order all the while desperately trying to depicter what to do here now. So far, this mysterious man hasn’t done anything wrong, legally at least, however, things are getting more and more suspicious. And Jim suspects the clown they are arresting has something to do with this, meaning the man might just be an accomplice of his.

“Who the hell are you?” Harvey asks with a terrified frown on his face. “And can somebody finally tell me what the hell is going on?” He demands right after looking first at the dark creature of a man and then to Jim as if Jim knew any better. 

“Leave him with me”, the dark suited man says then. His voice is impossibly low and deep yet strong and authoritative. It’s a voice that leaves no room for compromises. But Jim is a cop and he holds the authority around here. He cannot simply leave a criminal in the hands of some stranger no matter how much they seem to know what they’re doing.

“The man is a suspect of criminal conduct, he’s coming to the station with us”, Jim tells him as sternly as he possibly can. The stranger doesn’t seem ready to budge yet. He takes another step forward. Jim immediately and automatically follows the action with the cocking of his gun readying himself to shoot, although with the armour the man has on himself looks like Jim’s gun is of no use. The principle is there, though.

“If I may request, officers, I’d rather stay with him if it’s alright with you. We were kind of in the middle of something”, the clown man suddenly pipes up through the open door of the backseat.

“You just keep your mouth shut, alright!” Harvey turns around and tells him. It makes him catch a whiff of his foul smell again and can’t help but grimace in disgust.

“What were you doing, the two of you?” Jim suddenly thinks to ask as he looks between the two strange looking fellas. “You know what happened to this man?” he asks the tall quiet one. Instead the clown speaks again.

“We were just playing hide and seek, officer. In innocent good fun and all that”, he says and snickers to himself like a madman would, bony shoulders shaking underneath the purple jacket. Jim frowns in disbelief. Then finally the other one talks.

“He had an accident at Ace Chemicals. I’m taking him to get him some treatment”, he explains in short but it’s enough for Jim to believe him - for whatever reason. He should take them both to the station but in a lot of ways he wants the moody blues to handle the situation instead. Not only because the car would reek for weeks on end after transporting the clown but because Jim doesn’t know what to do with neither one of these strange men.

Jim looks at Harvey who’s just trying not to throw up from standing the closest to the smelly clown. He looks like he’s ready to turn in himself to jail just to get away from the man. Jim then looks back the dark suited man, on the fence on things.

“Who are you exactly?” Jim asks him and lowers his gun slightly without himself noticing it. The man somehow seems kinder as he answers then without really changing anything about his appearance, voice or posture.

“I’m Batman. I’m here to help protect Gotham and its citizens.”

Jim stays quiet for a second or two. He and Harvey are still on the stake out they had set to do today despite that having gone sideways already. This was a complete curve ball of events. But that’s just another day in the police force of course.

Jim puts his gun down to his side then. He wants to see what this Batman will do. If he’s a man of his words, and let him take the clown of their hands.

Harvey understands Jim without him having to say a word – just like partners do. Harvey places one hand over his mouth and nose as he grabs the clown by the arm once again but this time pulls him out of the car and then pushes him towards Batman. The clown giggles in delight, the handcuffs tinkling in tune with them.

Batman grabs hold of him by his slim waist and, surprisingly, doesn’t appear to mind the smell at all. Instead, he holds the man even closer to himself when the clown’s bloody red lips chillingly pull into another smile as he looks up at Batman, almost in adoration. 

“I’ll take care of him. Don’t worry”, the deep voice reassures Jim and Harvey. Jim prays to God he’s telling the truth.

Then just as suddenly as Batman had appeared, he disappears. One moment he’s there, another he’s pointing some device to the tall rooftops and rushing away into far beyond the dark corners of the buildings. Harvey and Jim try to follow the action with their eyes but it simply happens too fast.

In the end, they are left standing beside their car in complete awe and bewilderment.

“I’m not even going to ask what the hell just happened. I should know, but I just don’t”, Harvey admits to himself before staggering towards the front seat of the car. Jim follows suit and sits back down in the driver’s seat. The acid smell still lingers in the backseat and Jim rolls down the windows as far as they can go.

“Let’s just try to find the Pig before he kills more people. Batman can handle that clown for now, whoever they are”, Jim decides and starts the engine once more. Rustles can be heard from beside him as Harvey fishes himself a donut from the paperback.

The radio then turns on as a notice comes in.

“Five armed men found shot dead outside Ace Chemicals. The victims appear to belong to the Red Hood Gang. Security camera footage shows the potential suspect, a man in a red cape with green hair, running from area approximately two hours ago. Sending in all available units in four mile radius.”

Jim and Harvey slowly turn to look at each other. Harvey has stopped in the middle of his glazed donut bite. His beady eyes are blown wide as they stare at Jim in incredulousness.

“What in the fucking hell is happening today?”

Jim cannot tell him but they both know it in their hearts and souls. Everyone’s crazy here so crazy things happen. That’s just Gotham.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Long time no see, but I finally finished my first thesis and that has been taking a lot out of me which is why I haven't been in the mood to write in a long time. But that's done now so hopefully I'll write more in the summer months :) Okay, there's a lot I want to tell you so I made some topic headlines so you can read if you're interested.
> 
> GOTHAM - the tv-series  
> You have no idea how long I've been waiting to finish this fic but I just never got around to do it until today. This was heavily inspired by Gotham the tv-series. I don't know about you but I like the show. I've seen it twice now but let me be real with you. The first time I ever tried to watch it, I couldn't watch it for more than two minutes or so. It just felt too over the top for me, and it took me about four or more months to give it another try. When I tried it for real then, I got hooked. I realised the dramatics of the show were a means of portraying accurately how the comics are.  
> Sure, the plot lines are sometimes a bit repetitive - everyone always dies but also comes back to life. But the show has really done a great job of showing how each of the villains have come to become themselves. And it has especially shown how Gordon has evolved and he's the true star of the show anyway. I never thought I'd like Gordon and the good old fashioned robber stories in the Bat universe so much but they were definitely the highlight for me.  
> I was sad at first that Batman wasn't actually in it but a little Brucie, but once I got over myself, I could really enjoy the process of him becoming who he is. Although due to the show getting finished too early on, the fifth season really hadn't the time to show the last steps of the process as well as they could have. In fact, the last season was definitely the worst one and also the shortest one - it's so sad to see how the show got treated by the network after so many great seasons.  
> But you know what was always simply impeccable about the show? The mise-en-scene, the costumes, the LIGHTING, the CINEMATOGRAPHY!!! Oooh, the production team for this show, I am in LOVE!  
> However, here's probably an unpopular opinion, but I have to be honest, this is my personal opinion - I absolutely loathed the Joker (or the Jokers) in the show. I just.... no. The actor just wasn't the one for me and neither was his portrayal of the character. I like the actor in Shameless but for me, he wasn't the right choice for the show. Also, the DC people also never actually let the show call the character Joker (or really let him look like the JokerJoker) for future cashflow reasons so... blaah blaah. It wasn't for me.  
> But I did fall in love with Gordon. He's so stylish, broody, handsome and "devil may care but I want to be good so bad" so I wanted to write something that involves him more. I have some other fics with him in it but this is definitely the heaviest one in the league. 
> 
> COMMENTS  
> Anywayyy, that's my essay on the topic. Another matter I wanted to raise is the fact that OH MY GOD I AM STUPID!!! I've been deleting comments on my fics accidentally because I think they've moved the button of the reply with the delete button on the front page. There's no trash either so I can't get them back :(((( I'm so sorry, y'all, I wished I wasn't so clumsy but I am and it keeps happening all the tiiime. So please just be aware of that. Do leave a comment but until I get myself sorted out, replying to them will take longer so I'm sorry. Just know I really appreciate it and I'd love to hear your thoughts on this fic as well. 
> 
> But that's all, finally. Thank you for reading and please stay tuned for more fics in the future! Holla at me on tumblr @lonewritersclub and ask or tell me things, whatever you like! I want to get to know you guys :)


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